Thursday, October 9, 2008

Booking Through Thursday

You know how Thursdays roll up on this blog, I post a response to the Booking Through Thursday meme and encourage you to do so as well. Let's get to it, shall we?

What was the last book you bought?Aspects of the Novel by E.M. Forster

Name a book you have read more than once.Go Down to Silence by G.K. BelliveauHas a book ever fundamentally changed the way you see life? If yes, what was it?I should say The Bible (because it has), but I think they're getting at something else here. I think for the purposes of this meme, I'd say Brave New World by Aldous Huxley... it made me re-think my judgemental attitude (although I haven't been able to shake the nasty habit, I'm aware of my vice and conscious of trying to control the id).

How do you choose a book (e.g., by cover design and summary, recommendations or reviews)?Most often I choose a book by recommendations/reviews or if I've liked a particular book, I'll pick up the other works by that same author (i.e., I'm loving Atonement and I'll probably pick up more of Ian McEwan's books).

Do you prefer Fiction or Non-Fiction?Definitely fiction.

What’s more important in a novel - beautiful writing or a gripping plot?To me, it's beautiful writing... I even like those books where nothing really seems to happen outside of a change in the character's mind, just so long as it's evocative of emotion.

Most loved/memorable character (character/book)?These kinds of questions always get me because whatever is most fresh in my mind tends to be most vivid. Allowing for that flaw in my response, I'd say Robbie Turner in Atonement is pretty much rocking my face off right now (however, if you'd asked me two weeks ago it would have been Jace Wayland from City of Ashes and three months before that it would have been Emmett Cullen from the Twilight Series).

Which book or books can be found on your nightstand at the moment?My nightstand happens to serve as my "To Be Read" shelf and there are perhaps about 30 titles there right now. I'll give you the distilled version and let you know what I'm currently reading and/or what's on deck from the library: Atonement, The Glass Castle, Aspects of the Novel, Sparrow, Looking for Alaska, and An Abudance of Katherines.

Have you ever given up on a book half way in?The only book that I've ever put down and refuse to go back to is The Thin Red Line... my sister loved the book and recommended it to me heartily, but I couldn't do it. There were too many characters with nicknames and strategic maneuvering that made it hard for me to track the plot. I've liked a lot of Clancey stuff, but I just think this might not be my particular genre.

Enlightening, eh? Post your response on your blog and link to it through the BTT blog (link above). If you haven't got a blog, or don't want to sully your blog with this BTT post, you can comment below, you silly rascals.

You asked what led me to finally finish A Tale of Two Cities. I think I finally just determined to do it and pushed through the parts that were confusing, and then I saw it come together and loved it -- thought it was one of the most masterful books ever written. The style of opening, having scenes of different characters who don't seem to have anything to do with each other and without much explanation about who they were and what was going on threw me at first, though that is a common opening these days.

I laughed at your answer to "most memorable character." I DO love Anne best. But it's convenient to have one that you remember always. Lots of characters grab my attention at different times and in different way. Good answer.

As for Three Cups of Tea - eh. Not bad, not great. Too fluffy and the writer takes too long to get to the point. Kinda like my comment.

Hey, Heather. Thanks for coming to visit me. :) I haven't read Snuff yet. I actually have this weird thing about books - I started buying Palahniuk's book in paperback, so now all of the Palahniuk books I own have to be paperback. I just picked up Rant a few weeks ago, and it's still sitting on my TBR pile, sadly. I am looking forward to Snuff, though, as it sounds rather interesting.

I'm curious to hear what you think about An Abundance of Katherines. I hear good things about it, but I haven't picked it up yet myself.